The Nominations Committee has named the following five candidates for the three DEPS Director positions to be filled by election. The slate emphasizes technical, organizational, and geographic diversity. Write-in candidates are also accepted. DEPS members can cast their vote by completing this electronic ballot. Voting will remain open until midnight on Wednesday, 7 December. Note that member login is required; see our Members Page for details on account information.
Dave Kiel Background: Dave Kiel is currently the Director of the Directed Energy Warfare Office at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division. During active duty, he was the Program Manager for PMS 405, the Surface Navy’s Program Office for Electric and Directed Energy Weapons. He led the initiation of the Laser Weapons System (LaWS) to provide a rational first step for a Navy High Energy Laser weapon currently scheduled to be operationally deployed on the USS Ponce next year. He coordinated with the Air Force to support Active Denial technology transition to the Navy. He supported the acceleration of Ultra Short Pulse laser funding for the Navy to meet specific operational needs. He also supported HPM concepts with JIEDO to help defeat the IED threat. He taught a highly regarded of short course for DEPS that provided an intuitive introduction to the physics of Directed Energy weapons.
Dave Kiel’s passion for Electronic Warfare and Directed Energy Weapons was fostered by his operational experiences on his second ship where realistic air defense testing illustrated the difficulties in the traditional radar and surface-to-air-missile approach to air defense. He subsequently attended the Naval Postgraduate School where he earned a MS in Physics and did his thesis on nonlinear models of the Free Electron Laser. He had a tour at the Naval Surface Warfare Center at Dahlgren VA where he worked on a HPM weapon concept that transitioned to a classified Advanced Technology Demonstrator. He was the founding project manager of the Navy’s successful Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program being fielded in the fleet today.
Candidate's Statement: The fiscal pressures that were so challenging over the last several years are easing, so now is the time to concentrate on our core mission by improving the quality and content of our symposiums and to continue to expand our sphere of influence by growing our business base. DEPS’ core mission is to promote R&D in Directed Energy and create an environment for information exchange. I plan on concentrating on helping DEPS modify its conference and symposium model to improve technical content while making it easier to maintain a steady revenue stream and growing our attendance within the confines of the current DoD conference restrictions. If re-elected, I intend to continue to serve on the newly formed “Conference Committee” to improve our conferences. I also intend to continue to work to grow our business base which will require DEPS to strive for more and stronger partnerships. One possibility may be to help industry find a way in creating commercial markets that use the building blocks of Directed Energy weapons commercially to drive cost out of our systems. Increased partnering with sister non-profit organizations has been “hit and miss” but will help not only to increase our base, but will also increase our sphere of influence which will help support our primary goal of promoting R&D for Directed Energy. Growth of DEPS for the sake of growth is not our driving mission; rather it is the promotion of Directed Energy R&D to meet the needs of the warfighter. All initiatives must support that fundamental goal.
Diana Loree
Background: Dr. Diana L. Loree received her PhD in Electrical Engineering from Texas Tech University with a specialty in pulsed power in 1991. She has been employed by the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Directed Energy Directorate (AFRL/RD) (or its predecessor, Phillips Laboratory) for over 20 years. Beginning in the high power microwave division as a bench level field engineer, she rose through the ranks of the Active Denial Technology (ADT) program and into more technical leadership roles becoming ADS ACTD Technical Manager in the early 2000’s. The ADT program and ADS ACTD set standards for meeting expectations resulting in timely demonstrations of long range, less than lethal capability. In 2009 she was promoted to being the senior strategic planner for the directorate in the role of the Precision Engagement Product Line Lead whose portfolio included the tactical level laser system technologies research along with the counter-electronic high power microwave thrusts. Four years ago, she moved into the AFRL/RD Assistant Chief Scientist role working as part of the front office to provide scientific oversight, assessment, and guidance to the directorate’s >$200M portfolio. Dr. Loree has supported several DEPS Conferences including being the Chair of the RF Workshop portion of the Systems Symposium several years, session chair for a variety of sessions over time, and Chair of the entire DE Annual Symposium held in March of 2016. Dr. Loree is a Senior Member of IEEE, a Life Member of the Air Force Association, and a long standing member of DEPS.
Candidate's Statement: Directed Energy has been ready to transition certain levels of capability for some time. It holds the promises of scalable effects, deep magazine, low logistics chain, lowered collateral damage, and precise engagement that the users need. There have been issues in the past with DE programs overpromising and underperforming while on the other end, DE allowing too much customer concentration on the 100% capability end point without proposing acceptance of still revolutionary off-ramps of capability. We must take care to put acceptable rigor behind the programmatics, engineering, and effects promises of any system concept to not repeat the mistakes of the past. Academia, the services, agencies, international partners, and industry need to cooperate with each other, share data and plans to the maximum level, use sound research and systems engineering, and build that strong case – “That DE is Ready!” - not always at that Star Wars level, but a some realistic form. A success for any is a success for all, a failure for any is a setback for all. I believe DEPS has a key role to play in being a conduit for independent peer reviews, information sharing across the classification levels, education of the open populace, and education of “future” Directed Energy scientists and engineers and I want to be a part of that continuing. With some conference attendance issues past us, we need to rebuild the strong advertising and attendance at DEPS conferences to maximize the efficient exchange of information and networking that can happen. To keep up with this information age and as low cost avenues of public level education and information exchange, I would like to pole the membership on thoughts on the pros/cons of DEPS ramping up to including mediums such as Twitter and Facebook in their repertoire.
Don Seeley
Background: Don Seeley is a program manager with Applied Technology Associates (ATA) where he manages several efforts in Acquisition, Tracking and Pointing, electronics and software, and system control for laser weapon systems. Prior to joining industry, Don was the Deputy Director with the High Energy Laser Joint Technology Office (HEL-JTO) where he was instrumental in all key HEL-JTO programs including the Robust Electric Laser Initiative (RELI), Joint High Power Solid State Laser program (JHPSSL), Advanced Beam Control for Locating and Engagement (ABLE), HEL-JTO Broad Area Announcements, Service and Agency Calls, and Multi-Disciplinary Research Initiative. Don managed and expanded the HEL-JTO Educational Initiative with DEPS and was a key advocate and lead for international collaboration on HEL technologies. Before joining the HEL-JTO, Don was the Test Director and Senior Test Engineer at the High Energy Laser Systems Test Facility where he managed and conducted test operations involving the Mid-Infrared Advanced Chemical Laser (MIRACL), the SeaLite Beam Director (SLBD) and the Tactical High-Energy Laser (THEL). Don holds a Master’s degree in Optical Science and Engineering and a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering.
Candidate's Statement: As a Board member for the Directed Energy Professional Society, I will serve the DE community by supporting the transition of DE technologies to the field and into the hands of the warfighter. DEPS membership can support this transition by working to better define and solve the many problems of transition such as policy, sustainment, safety and others. I will remain a strong advocate for DEPS to maintain and expand its role in educational support of future DE leaders, technologists, and operators. It is crucial to our community to have a pipeline of bright minds excited about these technologies and systems. In addition, I plan to continue to support the global expansion of DE collaboration with our international partners by supporting and working to hold more joint conferences and sessions with presentations and attendance by non-US participants under existing and future agreements.
Paul Shattuck
Background: Paul Shattuck has over 42 years of technical and management experience in the development and operations of space, launch, airborne and ground systems. He has particular technical expertise in the areas of: guidance, dynamics and control; beam control; acquisition, tracking, and pointing; autonomy and robotics, object-oriented software; flight software V&V; modeling and simulation; and mission and operations analysis.
A focused area of Shattuck's career has been the development and maturation of technologies for Directed Energy Systems. He spent most of the 1980's developing and testing beam control technologies for the Strategic Defense Initiative. In the 1990’s-2010’s he led the team responsible for integration of the Beam Control/Fire Control system on ABL and flew over 125 sorties on the ABL test aircraft culminating in a lethal shootdown of a boosting ballistic missile in February 2010, a historical first. Recently Paul has focused his attention on maturing multi-mission tactical laser weapon systems for transitioning to the warfighter, including the Athena laser weapon system that supported live fire testing at WSMR. He has received numerous awards and recognitions from Lockheed Martin, customers, academia, and various professional organizations during this time.
Candidate's Statement: Directed Energy Systems, and specifically High Energy Laser Systems, have reached a tipping point in transitioning to the warfighters, due to a convergence of user needs and technology maturity. I believe that the DEPS Outreach program is critical to this transition and needs to be strengthened. With the advent of a new administration in the coming year, the need for informing key stakeholders becomes even more important. Activities such as the DE2DC and the DE Caucus are critical to educating decision makers and warfighters to the unique capabilities of laser weapon systems. We need to sustain and grow these activities as well as continue with all other aspects of educating the public about laser weapons. Capstone projects are an excellent way to involve the next generation of warfighters in laser weapon development. They can help develop the DOTMLPF and TTP necessary to operational deploy and use laser weapon systems. We need to help grow the next generation of Directed Energy scientists, engineers, policy makers, and users.
Jeff Thomas
Background: Since 2002, Jeff Thomas has been the Laser Technology Division Head and Associate Director of the Penn State Electro-Optics Center, a Navy University Affiliated Research Center (UARC) and Mantech Center of Excellence for Electro-Optics. As the Laser Technology Division Head, he has led a team of talented scientists and engineers that have supported numerous laser weapon programs including the Navy Laser Weapon System (LaWS), the USMC FNC Ground Based Air Defense (GBAD) system, and the Navy Low Power Module (LPM) system. In addition to having technical oversight responsibility for these and other programs, he has been the Principle Investigator for numerous laser based programs including a man-portable fiber laser weapon system, laser lethality programs, and several laser based Mantech programs. In addition, Mr. Thomas has been the PI for several programs focused on the development and testing of optical components and coatings used in HEL weapon systems. Other projects he has been responsible for include the development of processes and applications for ultrashort pulsed lasers. He has over 30 years’ experience in the electro-optic industry with specific expertise in optical system design and analysis as well as laser system development for military, industrial, and scientific applications.
Candidate's Statement: We all share the common goal of transitioning DE weapons to benefit the warfighter. DEPS has played a key role in bringing the Directed Energy community together to provide a forum for industry, government, and academia to share information and to discuss the issues related to the development and transition of DE weapons. As an active participant in DEPS for almost fifteen years, I can attest to the value that it has provided me personally. As an employee of a Navy UARC (University Affiliated Research Center), I believe I bring both an academic as well as a government perspective regarding the benefits DEPS provides and how to broaden its influence. As a Board member, I will strive to maintain the high technical content of conferences, short courses, and publications and will work to strengthen the collaborative environment DEPS provides. I also believe there needs to be more involvement, at an early development stage, with the end users who will ultimately utilize these weapons in the field. I believe DEPS can play a major role in strengthening this interaction.
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